


French Girl

by screamqueen18



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, Implied Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 23:46:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20750765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamqueen18/pseuds/screamqueen18
Summary: At the World Cup in France, Hope does an interview which leads to the team finding out the secret the two have been hiding.





	French Girl

Hope was standing with her arms crossed, looking away from the cameras. A couple of the rookies on the squad were standing in front of her. This new interview segment was almost over, and it was awkward as hell. She really didn’t like re-living her days on the old squad. The 99’ers hadn’t been particularly pleasant to train with, once she got over her hero worship of Mia Hamm and Briana Scurry. Not that those two had been terrible, she could name others that had been far, far worse. 

“Hope. Hope!”

She was brought back down to reality by Emily Sonnett snapping her fingers in her face. The defender gave her a sheepish grin as the keeper glared. “The segment’s almost over,” the Thorn’s defender shrugged. “Then we can go chill and find Carli. Get you away from Heif.”

“Fine,” Hope groaned. She ran her hands through her hair, squinting into the harsh sunlight. “What are the last few questions?”

“Favorite teammate to play with?” Tierna asked tentatively, reading from the card in her hand. 

“Carli Lloyd,” Hope said with a soft snort. “Her dedication and skill are enormous. And her talent… it’s been an honour to play with her and call her my friend.”

“Besides Carli,” Emily scoffed. “We all knew you’d name her.”

Hope rolled her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she thought carefully. “Tobin Heath,” she said finally. “She has more ball skills in her little finger than anyone in the world has in their entire body. She’s driven, talented, and…. She’s Tobin fucking Heath.”

“She’s really hot too,” Emily said snidely, high fiving with Mal who snickered. 

Hope rolled her eyes yet again, feeling a headache forming just behind her eyes. She didn’t know when she got so old. She might have enjoyed a comment a few years ago, but now it just reminded her of how much of this interview was actually going to be cut by the editing team. 

It was a slow smile, one that Emily would later recall looked a lot like the Grinch’s, as it made its way up to her checks. “Actually, wait. I think I should tell you one more story.”

Mal looked wide eyed to Hope and then back at the frantically nodding production assistant. Every word out of the former keeper had been like pulling teeth. The only reason she had agreed was because they had promised her a platform to speak about her grass root soccer camps. It was the only time she had actually smiled up until now. 

“Yes. Tell! Tell!” Emily encouraged. She didn’t even care about the camera team. She was hoping for some dirt. This whole interview had been bland as hell. She knew for a fact Mewis and Lavelle had heard both an embarrassing and funny tale from their 99’ers interview.

Tierna nodded too. 

She was still being timid. 

She wasn’t sure of her place on the national team yet. Hope was confident the girl could very well replace Kelley on the field someday. Jill was tentative to conclude the same. 

“Is it about the French girl?” Mal asked curiously. 

“French girl?” Emily asked, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, Hopey. You have to tell us now!”

“It isn’t about the French girl!” Hope sputtered, flushing. Sometimes she really hated this team. While she had wanted to tell a story, it wasn’t one about herself, or her personal life. “I was going to tell you about Ash and Ali.”

“We all know about them,” Mal said with a flippant wave of her hand. “Tell us about the French girl.”

Emily nodded eagerly. “Who was she? She was a soccer player right? When you were abroad in Sweden?” 

Hope nodded, trying her best to come up with a vague answer as she involuntary flashed back to sparkling brown eyes and tanned skin. “She was. She was in Sweden visiting a friend.” 

_‘Said friend was me, but they don’t need to know that.’_

“What was she like?” Tierna asked a with a small smile, a hint of redness edging across her cheeks. 

“She’s gorgeous,” Hope answered immediately. “Tanned like a goddess. She just soaks up the rays, she nevers burns. It’s incredible. Chocolate eyes, like they can stare into your soul…”

“You said she was French…” Emily pointed out, a niggling feeling in the back of her brain. 

“Not everyone in France is blonde and blue-eyed Em,” Mal said with an eye roll. “Continue Hope.”

“She was….everything; the best woman I ever met, the best soccer player. She had everything.”

“Oh my god,” Mal’s eyes were wide. “She was a soccer player.”

The Spirit player had heard about a little tryst between Hope and some French girl. Someone that had stolen her heart for a week in Paris, but she had no idea that they all probably knew the woman. 

The soccer world was small, especially when talking about women’s soccer. 

“Was it Camile? No, wait Le Sommer?” Emily asked, her butt half off her seat as she leaned in excitedly. 

“Those are blondes.” Tierna rolled her eyes. 

“Was she actually French?” Mal asked, her eyes narrowing. She could only think of a couple of soccer players that fit the profile of who Hope was talking about, and it didn’t seem likely Hope had hooked up with Wendie Renard. 

Hope only shrugged, giving them a half smile. 

“What was the sex like?” Emily blurted out, unable to stop herself. “It was good right? I mean Paris is the city of lovers.”

The keeper burst out laughing as Tierna wrinkled her nose at Emily’s comment. “Of course it was. But I don’t kiss and tell.”

_Long legs wrapped around her hips as she let out a grunt, digging her short nails into the brunette’s ass. “Fuck, I need you.”_

_The younger woman laughed, trailing kisses along her neck as she tangled her hands in Hope’s hair. “You can have me however you want. Just as soon as we get into the room. I’m not having sex in public, even in Paris.”_

_“So if I take you out onto our balcony and fuck you, you’ll be okay?” Hope teased. _

_The woman arched in her arms as Hope’s lips traveled to a sensitive spot behind her ear. The elevator dinged past another floor. “Fuck! Pl-please! Yes- you can have me however you want!”_

_“And if I want to bend you over and take you from behind,” the keeper growled. “While you’re screaming my name…”_

_“Please Hope,” the younger woman begged. “Just take me. I need you.”_

_Hope pulled back with a grin. “Once we get to the room.”_

“Do you see that look,” the blonde midfielder’s hand waived widely in Hope’s face, breaking the former keeper out of her remembrance. “You are thinking about her right now.”

Both Mal and Tierna were blushing on Hope’s behalf because for one thing, big bad Hope Solo did not blush, and she certainly didn’t blush from a rookie’s teasing. 

“Em.” Tierna broke in. She seemed to be the only one remember they still had a camera on them. Even though they all knew US Soccer would edit this out, they edited half the crap they said. It was one reason they were told not to take insta videos as much anymore. No editing team meant things were said that could damage the team’s Girl Scout reputation, especially when Long was the one videoing. 

“Come on, Solo! One more detail, please.” The Thorns player was relentless. 

Hope glared, but inside she was warm. She had remembered one of the best moments of her life, and it had softened her, albeit briefly. 

“She was the only woman I will ever love.”

——

“What do you think they’re talking about over there?” Sam asked as she passed a ball to Carli. The two were idly warming up, while straining to hear what their teammates were talking about. 

“It’s Hope,” Carli scoffed, trying to tamp down a blush she was sure would be spreading across her features. “It could be anything.”

“It’s probably something embarrassing knowing her,” Kelley chimed in, as she settled down on the grass not too far away from them to stretch, Alex and Allie near her. 

Alex nodded. “It’s probably some story from London,” she teased, looking over at Kelley and squinting into the sun. “Talking about how you kept her up all night making forts.”

“You’re one to talk,” Carli drawled. “Didn’t you almost pass out in London once we got to the village?”

“And you were better?” Alex shot back. 

“Game winning goal,” the midfielder shot back, a smug smile on her face. “It’s all about being zero-ed in, cool under pressure.”

“We get it, you’re the GOAT,” Allie teased. “But seriously, what do you think they’re talking about? Heif’s ears are so red!”

Kelley shot Carli a look, before turning to Allie. “Something to do with this one,” she teased, jerking her thumb in Carli’s direction. “And he’s finding out more than he wants to know.”

The midfielder rolled her eyes kicking the ball at her feet none to gently in Kelley’s direction. The brunette laughed and batted it away back towards Sam. “It’s true though isn’t it?” she teased. “She’s probably telling some story about walking in on you and Brian.”

“That has never happened,” Carli protested, crossing her arms as she idly fingered the bare space on her ring finger. 

“Speaking of,” Alex said, watching her movements. “What happened there? I thought you two were getting married after Rio?”

At that the midfielder shook her head. “Things change,” she murmured, dropping her hands back to her sides and gesturing for Sam to pass to her. 

“I’m sorry,” Alex said, making a face. “If I’d have known-”

“Don’t be sorry-” Carli said sharply. She stopped the ball that Sam had just kicked to her, facing Alex and sighing. “Just - I didn’t say anything, but he wasn’t who I was supposed to be with. Luckily I realized that in time, and we ended things.”

“So there’s someone new?” Allie asked, a gleam in her eye. She pulled out her phone. “Do we know them?”

Carli let out a dry chuckle, kicking the ball back towards Sam as she glanced over at Hope again. Heif’s ears seemed to be getting even redder now. Hope normally only got a glare out of the older man. Weird. “You could say that. But I’m not telling you.”

“Don’t worry Car,” Kelley said, sharing a smirk with Allie. “We’ll find out, we always do.”

The midfielder just rolled her eyes, leaving the three to gossip as she gestured to Sam to start passing again. ‘But now how do I get closer to Hope without making it obvious?’ she thought to herself. 

Luckily, she didn’t have to make the move towards the ex-keeper. It appeared as though Hope was done with the interview. And...there wasn’t a frown on her face. She almost looked lost in a happy day dream. Weirder and Weirder. 

The midfielder captain tried to keep her eyes off of Hope, but Sam still noticed. Turning her head and stopping their little one touch passing. 

“You look...happy?” 

Hope’s almost smile immediately vanished. 

Carli cursed Sam inside her head. She would have killed for a photo of that half smile. Since coming to France, she knew that Hope had been a ball of nerves. Their text and phone conversations had made that evident enough. She hadn’t seen the older woman this way since dealing with US Soccer bullshit after the Olympics. She had started to become concerned with the one word texts and stress lines forming on Hope’s face. 

The keeper turned towards Carli, offering the midfielder a half shrug. “I’m going to get out of here,” she muttered quietly. “Text me when you’re done with practice.”

“Hope,” Carli softly protested, even though she knew it wouldn’t do any good. Hope wouldn’t stay- not now. It was too awkward. She was honestly surprised that the brunette had even agreed to do the interview. 

Hope was with the BBC and they, unlike Fox Sports, took no for an answer when it came to interviews. For some reason, Hope had agreed to to this, to talk with her own teammates as long as the BBC got to show it as well. 

The keeper gave her a strained smile. “I’m fine Cal,” she murmured, leaning in to give her a quick hug. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Fuck,” Carli cursed softly, staring at Hope’s retreating back. She paced around in a small circle as she watched Hope exit the field, not looking back. 

“Is she okay?” Sam asked, quietly coming up behind Carli and steering her further away from where they had been attempting to pass earlier. 

“She’s fine,” Carli replied automatically, giving the answer she knew Hope would want her to say. 

The younger midfielder just leveled her with a knowing look. 

“She’s not fine,” Carli sighed, rubbing her hand over her face and looking at Sam with exasperation. “But it’s Hope. What am I supposed to say? After everything it’s not like she’s going to open up. I’m surprised she’s here. She’s surprised she’s here. But she is, and we’re- she’s dealing with it.”

“_We’re_?” Sam asked with a small smile. 

“I said she’s,” Carli grumbled. “I’m trying to help, if that matters. But it’s Hope.”

“This is one of the times that Christen must be thankful she’s dating Tobin,” Sam said lightly. “Hard chill, you know?”

Carli sputtered as she looked at the blonde. “We’re not dating,” she muttered. “Just dear friends.”

Sam let out a laugh before winking at Carli. “So you’re saying I’d lose the pool then?”

“Pool? There’s a betting pool?” 

Sam flicked the ball up, dribbling away from the confused midfielder. 

“Sam!”

——

Carli always pushed herself harder than her teammates. She needed to being 36 years old, by far the oldest field player for the USWNT. Keepers could be older, they didn’t need the same endurance. Carli had to admit. She couldn’t run like Alex at least not as fast as Alex used to be before she kept getting injured. Maybe as fast as Mallory would be a more accurate statement. 

She had to be better, especially as the captain. Its why she took the stairs after every practice. At least their hotel wasn’t that big, only 12 floors, with them on the seventh and eighth. She could run those steps in her sleep. 

She was used to running stairs in her apartment anyway, the elevator being constantly broken (not that she knew that before signing a 8 month lease). It was a quick option, somewhere she could stay in Jersey when she wasn’t home. 

“Want company?” Kelley asked, bumping Carli’s hip. She had seen the way her friend’s face had fallen after talking with Hope. The defender had once been close with Hope, but they had drifted apart since, probably since London. KO had hear about Hope’s quiet separation from Jeremy through some random tabloid a year after the fact. 

“No, I’m good,” Carli quietly, hoping no one would join her. She wanted to call Hope, wanted to hear that everything was okay.

“You sure?” Kelley asked, as she walked Carli over to the stairs. “We can just chill in your room and talk.”

The midfielder shook her head, offering Kelley a small smile. “I’ll see you later Kelley.” 

Carli shifted her bag on her shoulder, disappearing through the door that separated the staircase from the rest of the hotel before starting the slow climb to the top. Her phone buzzed in her pocket once she was on the fifth floor. 

Pulling it out, she was happy to see Hope’s name on the screen. 

“Hey,” she greeted softly as she answered the call. “Where are you?” 

“The staircase,” Hope said softly. “Where are you?”

“The staircase,” Carli laughed. “On the fifth floor. Meet me?”

A click was her answer. The midfielder shook her head, dropping her bag onto the corner and settling against the wall as she waited for Hope. She wasn’t sure if her roommate was in her room, otherwise she’d have suggested meeting there. And she really just wanted to take a shower and nap. 

“Hey,” the former keeper said quietly, settling down next to her and breaking Carli from her thoughts. 

Hope pulled Carli into her arms, letting the younger woman relax against her. “How was training?” she murmured quietly. 

“I think Sam knows about us,” Carli muttered. “Once you left she was asking questions and…”

“Relax Cal,” Hope soothed, pressing a soft kiss to the midfielder’s hair. “It’ll be okay.”

“I just don’t want to stress you out more,” Carli murmured. “I know that being here isn’t exactly easy. And…”

Hope carefully turned Carli so she could look the younger woman in the eyes. “I know this hasn’t been easy for either of us. And you’ve been my rock through all of this, but it’s okay. I took some time to think today. Being alone in France today, just wandering let me have some time. It’s going to be okay, Car.”

The midfielder huffed pushing her head into the ex-keeper’s chest. 

“I want you to stop looking at me like a burn victim or like I’m on suicide watch. I am ok, being here, not being on the team. I have chosen my path, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“I know you want to be out there. You miss it. Your eyes light up every time you help me practice at home.”

“They light up because I’m looking at you, princess,” Hope whispered into chestnut hair, kissing the still sweaty strands as she did. 

Carli slapped Hope’s chest. “Why are you only a big softy with me?”

“Because you are the only one I ever wanted to be soft for. You’re my French girl.”

Pulling back, the player frowned. “Excuse me, French girl?”

Hope chuckled. 

“Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten our time in Paris?”

Carli’s frown remained but the older woman could still see the light blush dusting her love’s cheeks. 

“Do you need to be reminded, babe? I know I still don’t want to have sex in public even in a staircase, but I suppose I can give you a little taste before I go back to my own hotel.”

The midfielder wrinkled her nose as she briefly flashed back to the time she spent in France visiting Hope. “That’s not what you were saying back then,” she murmured as she leaned in pressing a brief kiss to Hope’s lips. “If I’m recalling correctly, you were ready to take me in the middle of the street. And you did take me on the balcony of our hotel room.” 

“You loved it,” Hope said cheekily, smiling as she captured Carli’s lips again hungrily. “I seem to recall you begging for more.”

The midfielder let out a soft moan as Hope began trailing kisses along her jawline to the spot behind her ear that always made her knees weak. “Hope- we can’t. Not here,” she whimpered, feeling a spike of arousal shooting through her core. 

“Who’s your roommate?” Hope murmured against her skin. “Kick her out. Or we can go back to mine.”

Carli only let out a muffled groan, biting down on her lip to muffle the sound. Hope’s teeth grazed her pulse point on her neck, as she shifted Carli so she was straddling her lap. 

“Hope,” the midfielder whimpered again before pulling away and resting her forehead against Hope’s shoulder. “We can’t. Not here.”

The keeper chuckled lightly, resting her hands on Carli’s hips as she slipped her thumbs under the younger woman’s training kit to trace slow circles on her skin. “I’m just reminding you of Paris,” she teased, leaning up to press a soft kiss to Carli’s forehead.

The younger brunette groaned as she shifted her position, sliding off of Hope’s lap and back onto the ground next to her. Their thighs and hips touched as Carli laid her head on Hope’s shoulder. “I wish we were somewhere else,” she murmured. “Somewhere private.”

“You mean this hotel stairwell isn’t good enough for you?” Hope teased, reaching forward to toss Carli’s legs over hers, and intertwining their fingers together. 

The midfielder wrinkled her nose as she looked up at Hope through her eyelashes. “Babe.”

Hope sighed, the smile still on her face. “I just miss you. I thought it would be like during the season, but we are in the same city and I can’t even see you.”

“I keep wanting to go to you, especially with…” Carli’s eyes looked down at Hope’s stomach, her hand reaching out to trace the soft curve of Hope’s stomach. There wasn’t even a bump. Her abs were still as defined and hard as ever. 

“We’ll know in another week.” The ex-keeper gripped her lover’s other hand. 

“Sweden match?”

“Ironic isn’t it?”

Carli rolled her eyes. “Don’t do that,” she chastised softly. “It’s in the past now. And we’re in a better place now, aren’t we?” 

Hope gave the midfielder a soft smile. “Back then you were getting ready to marry Brian, so I’d say we’re in a much better place Cal.”

The younger woman let out a soft chuckle, curling further into Hope as she intertwined their fingers back together, letting them rest on her thigh. “Soon to be Cals,” she teased, wrinkling her nose at her lover. 

“Carli Anne Lloyd-Solo,” Hope said with a sigh. “I could definitely get used to that.”

“All it needs is the paperwork,” Carli said with an eye roll. “It takes so long.”

“What takes so long?” a voice interrupted. 

Hope and Carli both jumped, not realizing anyone had joined them in the stairwell. 

“Emily,” Carli said faintly. “What are you doing here?”

“Kelley sent me to get you- OH MY GOD!” Sonnett exclaimed, seeing their intertwined fingers as she approached them, climbing down the stairs to the fifth floor landing. “Sam totally called it!”

Hope and Carli looked down at their intertwined hands as the midfielder lifted her head off of Hope’s shoulder. “Emily,” she started, but the defender wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. 

“Kelley!” the blonde exclaimed into her phone. “Come down here! I’m in the stairwell on the fifth floor landing. “You’re never going to guess who I found!”

“Seriously?” Hope asked, rolling her eyes as she looked at the Thorns player. “What if we’d wanted to keep this a secret?”

“From the team?” Sonnett asked, arching her right eyebrow. “There aren’t any secrets. We all would’ve found out eventually.”

“You haven’t found out so far,” Carli grumbled, resting her head back on Hope’s shoulder. “And still wouldn’t know if we hadn’t decided to stay here.”

The sound of feet pattering down the stairs made them look up as Kelley O’Hara, followed by a few other teammates, came into view. 

“What’s up Sonnett?”

The blonde just gestured smugly to the pair sitting at her feet. “It looks like people need to start paying up.”

“Shut up,” Allie hissed, smacking Kelley’s arm. “You’re serious, this isn’t a joke?”

“I don’t know about you,” Emily said with a smirk, having started to calm down now that her teammates were with her. “But I don’t talk to my teammates curled up like this. Only someone special.”

“When’s the last time you dated someone Em?” Kelley said with a smirk, crossing her arms as she observed Hope and Carli sitting on the ground in front of her. Both older women seemed to not care that were in front of them, even though Kelley was almost certain they were thinking differently. 

“So, it’s true then?” Alex asked, watching how Carli’s eyes flicked up to Hope’s face before she nodded. 

“It’s true,” the midfielder confirmed. She planted a soft kiss on the underside of Hope’s jaw. 

“How long have you been together?” the striker asked.

Carli let out a dry chuckle before lifting her head off of Hope’s shoulder. “Since I called off my wedding to be with her. November of 2016.”

Kelley and Alex’s eyes widened as they figured out the timing. “You were supposed to get married on the 4th,” Kelley questioned. “Did you?”

“Leave Brian at the altar? Not exactly,” Hope teased, squeezing Carli’s hand as she answered for her lover. 

“I met Brian in Mexico,” Carli said, smiling at Hope. “But we were taking our last set of engagement photos and it didn’t seem right. I called it off that night. He understood, and was feeling the same way, but didn’t know how to tell me. Brian’s a great guy, but he knew that my heart belonged to Hope. I got on a plane the next morning at was at her doorstep that evening.”

“I didn’t know what to think when she appeared,” Hope said wryly, lifting their intertwined hands to her lips and pressing a kiss to Carli’s. “I thought something had happened, that she was hurt. She was in my arms crying, telling me how she didn’t want to make a mistake and marry Brian. How she couldn’t marry him when her heart belonged to me.”

“What’d you do?” Allie asked, eyes wide as she listened to the keeper. 

“Nothing,” Carli said with a shake of her head. “She put me to bed, and said we’d talk in the morning. The next morning we talked, and drove to the courthouse.”

“The courthouse?” Emily interrupted, confusion clear on her face. 

“I didn’t want to risk her changing her mind,” Hope clarified, she looked at Carli with a smirk on her face. She reached into her shirt pulling out a chain around her neck, showing off a ring. “Emily walked in on us complaining about the paperwork for the name change.”

“You’re married?” Alex exclaimed loudly, as Kelley’s mouth dropped open. “And you never told any of us? What the hell?”

“For a few years now,” Hope confirmed with a wry grin. “Meet my wife, Carli Anne Lloyd-Solo.”

“Not yet babe,” Carli said quietly, knocking her hand against Hope’s thigh. “We’re still waiting on the paperwork.”

“Wait until the rest of the team finds out,” Kelley exclaimed, as she pulled out her phone. “They’re going to be so mad they missed this. The Harli ship has finally sailed!”

Carli let out a groan as Hope chuckled. “Sorry babe, you knew what you were getting yourself into.”

“Just wait until they find out about…” Carli whispered in Hope’s ear. “They’re going to be bugging us nonstop.”

“You Cal, just you,” the keeper teased. “I’ll be at home, with the new addition remember?”

Emily’s eyes widened as she looked between the two who were quietly talking. “Hope’s pregnant? You’re having a baby?”

“What?!” 

All eyes turned back to them as Carli slumped backwards into Hope’s body. “Well, crap.”

The older woman chuckled, sliding out from underneath her wife and standing. She made a face as her back popped, and she offered her hand to help Carli to her feet. “I’ll see you later,” she said with a smile, planting a kiss on her wife’s lips. “Good luck with them.”

“Fuck you Hope,” Carli muttered against the keeper’s lips as the older woman laughed before pulling away with a smirk. 

“You already do,” Hope teased, pecking the younger woman’s lips again before giving her former teammates a wave as she turned and exited the stairwell. “I’ll see you later Cal.”

“So,” Kelley piped up, a glint in her eye as she turned to look at the midfielder again. “A baby?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed! Just wanted to post a little fun and fluffy one-shot to break up some of the angst that Hurting can bring. (I know they're not in the same universe, but still) As always, leave your thoughts and comments below! :)


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